Electrical display.



" v. E. RUMBARGER.

ELECTRICAL DISPLAY.

" APPLICATION FILED .IAN.14, 1909.

Patented 001.1511914.

2 SHEETS-SHEET l.

i Q/vvitneoom 1 V. E. RUMBARGBR.

ELECTRICAL DISPLAY.

APPLICATION FILED 11111.14, 1909.

Patented Oct. 13, 1914.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

Witwe/.mao 5 i a atkvonu,

VICTOR E. RUMBARGER, OF DAYTON, OHIO.

ELECTRICAL DISPLAY.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Oct. 13, 1914.

Application filed January 14, 1909. Serial No. 472,177.

To all whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, VICTOR E. RUMBARGER,

' a citizen of the United States, residing at Dayton, in the county ofMontgomery and State of Ohio, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Electrical Displays, of which the following is a specification, reference being had therein to the accompanying drawings. v

This invention relates to electrical displays. rIn many displays of this character it is desirable that the light of the lamp or lamps comprising the same should be so confined that the figure formed thereby will be sharply defined against the background.

To this end the object of the present invention is to provide a shield or housing forming a compartment adapted to receive a lamp and to incloxse the same on all but one of its sidesg'to provide such a shield which -will be readily removable and interchangeable; and which will be supported by the lamp itself; to provide means for retaining the shield in position on the lamp and for preventing electrical contact between the shield and the lamp base; further, to provide such a shield which can be formed in the shape of a fanciful figure and which can be utilized either individually or in series to form the desired display and which will be of such a construction that, when a plurality of lamps provided -with shields are arranged close together to outline a figure, the several lamps will form a practically continuous line of light which will be sharply defined against the background;

land further, to provide such a shield which` will be inexpensive and easily attached to any ordinary incandescent electric lamp.

With these objects in view my invention consists in certain novel features and in certain combinations and arrangements of parts to be hereinafter described, and then more particularly pointed out in the claims.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a front elevation of an electrical display formed of a series of lamps equipped with 'line a: .fr of Fig.

my invention; Fig. 2 is a side elevation of a lamp and shield; Fig. 3 is a vertical, sectiorral view taken centrally through Fig. 2; Fig. 4 is an'end view of a lamp provided with a shield formed in the shape of a star; and Fig. 5 isa sectional view taken on the l and looking in the direction of the arrows.

In these drawings I have illustrated the preferred form of my invention, and, in lug. 1 I have shown an electrical display comprising a heart-shaped ligure formed of a series of lamps equipped with independent shields in accordance with my invention. It will be understood, however, that the ligure here shown is chosen for the purpose of illustration only and that the invention is adapted for use in a great variety of displays and signs and that it is particularly adapted for use in forming letters.

The invention may be adaptedl for -use with a lamp of any suitable character, and, in the present invention, I lhave shown` the same in connection with the ordinary incandescent electric lamp comprising a bulb 1 having a base Qadapted to enter and be supported by a lamp socket 3, which, in turn, may be secured to any suitable support. In carrying out my invention each lamp is provided with a shield or housing 4 eX- tending about the same and forming a compartment within which the bulb of the lamp is confined. This compartment is open on jacent to the outer end of the lamp,and, consequently, the lamp is visibleat this-end only, thus causing the 4encl of the shield within lwhich the lamp is mounted to: be.4 sharply outlined by the light `of the lamp: within the same. This shield is preferably removably mounted so as to be readily interchangeable and is, in the present instance, supported by the lamp itself, being provided with suitable means to prevent electrical contact between the shield and the lamp base. The shield may be formed of any suitable material, but is preferably formed of metal and is of such a character,

'that it may be provided on its inner sidel with a reflecting surface to intensify the y -one side only, preferably'Iat-the side ad-v` light of the lamp. In the formof devicesr here shown, the shield -is formed'of metal" and is substantially circularv in cross section having its sides converging inwardly, i. e., toward the lamp socket 3. The walls of the shield converge to 'such an extent as to provide the shield with an opening at the inner end thereof ofa size such as to permit the lamp base topass freely through the saine, but such as to cause the inner edges of the shield to engage the bulb of the lamp at a point slightly removed from the base thereof. In order tosupport the,

l the shield and the base 2 I prefer to .provide a band of non-conducting material, such as a ring of elastic rubber 5, which ts snugly about the lamp at the inner end of the shield and not only retains the same in position on the lamp, but also interposes a layer of non-conductingmaterial between the shield and the lamp base, thereby preventing a short circuit when the shields for the adjacent lamps of a display are in engagement with each other. Further, the ring of rubber prevents moisture from entering the inner end of the shield or the socket. By so supporting the shield upon the lamp the lampl and shield may be handled as a 'single device, thereby enabling the lamp and shield to be simultaneously secured to the support or removed therefrom. At the same time, it requires but a very small amount of time and slight eort to separate the shield from the lamp. The outer end of the shield preferably terminates in substantially the same transverse plane with the end of the lamp bulb 1 and the outer portion thereof may be of any suitable configuration, and, in the form shown in Figs. 2 and 3, it is flared outwardly 'to form av round figure or a solid ball of light. The diameter of the shield is preferably slightly greater than the diameter of the lamp taken on the same transverse line or plane, and, consequently, the shield comes in vcontact with the bulb only at its inner L edge, and, while the line of contact extends and, consequently,

entirely about the bulb, it is very narrow, a minimum amount of heat is conducted from the bulb to the shield.

While I have shown and described the shield as having its sides converging inwardly so that they are substantially parallel with the side of the lamp, it will be understood that this specific construction is not an essential feature ofthe invention and that the desired results may be obtained with shields of other shapes, it being only necessary that the shield shall fit comparatively closely about'the lamp and shall ,prevent the lateral diffusion of the light.

` In Figs. 4 and' I have shown the shield with its outer end in the shape of a star, the star being preferably formed by pressing the material forming the shield outwardly at suitable points to form the points of the star. Thus, the light ofl the lamp within the shield will be confined within a starshaped shield and only the sharply outlined star will be visible against the background. The points 6 of the star preferably begin to diverge from the line of the side wall of the shield at a point near the point of greatest diameter of the bulb 1 and gradually diverge therefrom, thus causing the walls forming the points of the star to converge inwardly and merge with the walls of the shield.

It will be apparent that both the figure outlined by a series of lamps and those formed by the ends of the shields, in these drawings, are used for purposes of illustration only and that the shield may be formed in the shape of any desired figure and that a plurality of lamps, with the shields forming either plain or fanciful iigures, 'may be assembled to form any desired display. It will also be apparent that the shape of the shield itself and the manner of the support thereof mayy be varied without departing from the spirit of the invention, and I therefore wish it to be understood that I do not desire to be limited to the details of construction shown and described, for obvious modifications will occur to a p erson skilled in the art.

v Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. The combination, with a lamp comprising a bulb and a base, of a shield completely `encircling said bulb, and means for supporting said shield on said lamp with the inner surface of said shield out of engagement with the surface of said bulb, said shieldA having its inner end arranged near the in- .f

ner end of said bulb and having its outer end terminating beyond the light-giving element of said lamp, thereby preventing the lateral diffusion of light by said lamp and causing the open end of the shield to be sharply defined by the light within the same.

2. The combination, with a lamp compris'- ing a base and a bulb, of a shield extending entirely around said bulb and having a substantially cylindrical outer portion of a diameter slightly greater than the largest diameter of said bulb, and -means for supporting said shield in position about said bulb with its inner surface close to but out of contact with said bulb.

3. The combination, with a lamp comprising a base and a bulb, of a shield encircling said bulb and extending from a line near the inner end of said lamp to a line near the outer end of said bulb and even with or beyond the outer end of the lightgiving element of said lamp and having its outer end open, thereby preventing the lateral diffusion of light and causing the outer end of the shield to be sharply defined by the light within the same, and means for supporting said shieldwith its inner surface close to but out of contact with said bulb.

4. The combination, with a lamp comprising a bulb and a lamp base, of a shield eX- tending about said bulb and having a circumferential wall spaced away from said bulb, converging toward said base and enand means for maintaining the end of said shield in contact with said bulb.

5. The combination, with a lamp comprising a bulb and a lamp base, of a shield extending about said bulb, having its outerv end adjacent to the outer end of said bulb and beyond the light giving element thereof and having its circumferential walls spaced away from said bulb, converging to Ward said base and engaging said bulb at a point adjacent to said base, and means for retaining said shield on said lamp and` for preventing electrical contact between the shield and the base.

6. The combination, with a lamp comprising a bulb and a 1am base, of a shield exe tending about said bul having its outer end adjacent to the outer end of said bulb and beyond the light giving element thereof and having its circumferential walls spaced away from saidv bulb, convegng toward said base and engaging said b b at a point adjacent to said base, and a band of insulating material extending about said lamp between said shield and said base.

7. The combination, with a lamp compris# ing a bulb and a lamp base, of a metallic structure extendin closely about said bulb and spaced away t erefrom except at its in ner end, and a ring of insulating'material mounted on said lamp to hold said inner end of said metallic structure in engagement with said bulb and out of engagement with said base.

In testimony whereof, I aix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

t VICTOR E; RUMBARGER.

Witnesses: a

HARLOW E. SPRING,

EDWARD S. REED. 

